Rodney Mims Cook, Jr.

Across a career spanning over 40 years, Rodney Mims Cook, Jr. has been at the forefront of classical architecture, urbanism and civic design. A graduate of Washington and Lee University and a scholar of the American Academy in Rome, he has combined design practice, historic preservation and cultural leadership to advance landmark projects around the world. He is the Founder and President of the National Monuments Foundation, headquartered at the Millennium Gate Museum in Atlanta and President of the Shin Dae-yong Global Peace Institute, with initiatives spanning the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Preservation & Design Leader: At age 15, he launched the campaign that saved Atlanta’s Fox Theatre. Later, through PolitesCook Architects, he designed the Newington Cropsey Museum in New York, housing the largest collection of Hudson River School paintings.

National Influence: A former U.S. Commissioner of Fine Arts and Vice-Chairman of the Commission in 2021, Cook has advised on civic and memorial design across Washington, D.C., including the Adams Memorial Library and the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial competition.

Global Voice: He has been a keynote speaker from Havana to St. Petersburg to Burning Man, sharing insights on classical architecture, civic art and urbanism. His work has been featured in Architectural Digest, The New York Times, Financial Times and Forbes.